Four Consecutive Top 2 Finishes in 4 Tournaments Including 1 European Win
Underwent Left Hand Stitching Surgery After Dog Bite Last Month
Skipping Saudi Arabia and Thailand to Prepare for Singapore Tournament
It is unfortunate.
This refers to "beautiful golfer" Allison Lee (USA). The accident happened at a time when she was on the rise. Last month, she was bitten by "Bear," the rescue dog of her boyfriend Trey Kidd. The breed is Black Pomeranian. Bear bit several places on Allison Lee's left side, and she underwent suturing surgery. She explained, "It was such a lovely dog. It seems to have strong territorial aggression."
She missed the Ladies European Tour (LET) Aramco Saudi International (total prize money $5 million) that ended last week in Saudi Arabia, and also the LPGA Tour Honda Thailand (total prize money $1.7 million) currently taking place in Thailand this week. Allison Lee is scheduled to appear at the HSBC Women's World Championship (total prize money $1.8 million) held in Singapore on the 29th. It will be her first appearance of the 2024 season.
Allison Lee has been a promising player who showed outstanding skills since her amateur days. She represented the United States in the Junior Solheim Cup and led the team to three consecutive victories. She entered the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a prestigious golf university, as a scholarship student. She was born to an Irish-Korean father and mother. Her powerful swing comes from her tall height of 175 cm. She turned professional in 2014 during her sophomore year in college. Expectations were high that she would become a superstar following Michelle Wie West (USA).
Allison Lee underwent suturing surgery last month after being bitten on her left hand by her boyfriend's pet dog. [Photo by Golfweek]
The start was not bad. She passed the 2014 LPGA Tour Q-School as a co-medalist. She also performed steadily in the money rankings, finishing 23rd ($628,676) in 2015 and 38th ($470,783) in 2016. However, she struggled due to intense pressure to produce results. She rarely collected winning trophies. At the 2016 KEB Hana Bank Championship held in Korea, she lost in a playoff to Carlota Ciganda (Spain). Until last year, she only managed to enter the top 10 sixteen times. Although she was sponsored by the Korean company Golfzon, sponsors began to drop off due to lack of results.
To make matters worse, she developed driver yips (a condition where muscle spasms occur due to pressure). With putting yips added, she faced the greatest crisis of her career. In 2018, her money ranking dropped to 155th ($12,054). She fell outside the top 100 for three consecutive years, appearing less frequently on the regular tour.
The number of missed cuts also increased sharply. During this difficult period, she met swing coach Chris Mason. He helped her overcome the driver yips and get back on track mentally. Mason praised her, saying, "There is elegance in everything she does," and "Watching her game is somewhat similar to watching Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland). She has a rhythm that is easy on the eyes."
Alison Lee achieved a commanding 8-stroke victory at the LET Aramco Team Series in October last year.
Allison Lee made a complete comeback last year. She participated in 23 LPGA Tour events and made the cut 20 times. Although she did not reach the top spot, she finished in the top 10 five times, including three runner-up finishes. Her money ranking was 19th ($1,411,998), a personal best. In October last year, she achieved a dominant 8-stroke victory at the LET Aramco Team Series (total prize money $500,000), shooting rounds of 61-61-65 over three days. It was her second win in two years and two months since August 2021. Allison Lee is once again challenging for her first LPGA Tour win this year. "You have to trust yourself. You need to believe that you are the best to succeed."
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